A few years ago, I used to spend a lot of time hanging out on the production forums on Dogs on Acid, the Drum and Bass messageboard, and I remember when one of the producers who posts there actually managed to track down one of The Winstons, who I'm pretty sure had no idea about the status of the break at that time.

I think he knew it had been sampled a few times in HipHop, but had no idea about the prevalence of its use.

The Beastie Boys properly obtained a license to use the sound recording but did not clear the use of the song (the composition on which the recording is based including any music and lyrics). In Newton v. Diamond and Others 349 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 2003) the US Appeals Court held that the use of the looped sample of a flute did not constitute copyright infringement as the core of the song itself had not been used.

Haven't religious conservatives been trying to insert an amen break into public schools for decades now?posted by Rarebit Fiend at 10:32 AM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

In the Newton copyright case, the Beastie Boys had a license to the sound recording but not to the underlying composition. I'm not sure the result would have been the same without the license to the recording, which the court identifed as having "unique performance elements." I think the performance in the Amen break has similar elements.posted by exogenous at 10:44 AM on June 10, 2011

I'm in the US and this audio program is working fine for me without proxy or anythingposted by Bwithh at 10:49 AM on June 10, 2011

I'm in the US and this audio program is working fine for me without proxy or anything
I'm using Safari on a Macposted by Bwithh at 10:50 AM on June 10, 2011

The bit that is cheesily fast forwarded about amen and the golden ratio is illucidated on a website here. Radio 1 really is terrible...posted by pmcp at 11:12 AM on June 10, 2011

They took his flute sound,
It made the Newt frown,
And stain the back of the trousers of his suit brown,
But they were moot grounds,
No disrepute found;
But then they credited Smith when they did "Root Down"posted by Sys Rq at 12:53 PM on June 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Rarebit Fiend: Haven't religious conservatives been trying to insert an amen break into public schools for decades now?

That would be awesome: an education of sampling history, or at least a brief appreciation for seemingly serendipitous moments in music.posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is there any more committed a pillager of the Amen break than the great Squarepusher? It's on Big Loada and all over Hello Everything, and those records are ten years apart. I'm really asking--I'm only a fairly casual dnb head. Thoughts?posted by Zerowensboring at 7:53 PM on June 10, 2011

Pretty much every D&B record from 1994 on was built on the amen break.posted by empath at 8:15 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think some of my favorite music made with the Amen break is Luke Vibert's nom de plume, Amen Andrews. He did 5 or 6 albums and each song features it prominently.

I've often wondered how the drums were mic'd . What is it about the timing and intonation of it that makes it so universal?posted by Catblack at 1:22 AM on June 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pretty much every D&B record from 1994 on was built on the amen break.

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